1. Member States, the international community and the United Nations (UN) system will gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as ?Rio+20?, in June 2012, to ?secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges?, (paragraph 20 (a) of UN General Assembly Resolution 64/236), and that such a conference is relevant and important to all countries, developing and developed alike.

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2. The concept of sustainable tourism has its roots in the early nineties. At the first Earth Summit held in Rio in 1992 and in the ensuing Agenda 21 process, travel and tourism was one of the industries identified as having the potential to make a positive contribution to a healthier planet.

3. The principles established in the Rio Declaration served as the basis for the progressive development of the sustainable tourism concept. Expressed simply sustainable tourism can be defined as ?Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities? (UNWTO, 2004).

Tourism1and Sustainable Development

4. A key component of the vision for Rio+20 should be to achieve a transition to a green economy by promoting the adaptation of major sectors of the world economy, including the productive and services sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, transport and tourism towards longer‐term sustainability.

5. This involves the establishment of a policy framework and implementing programmes that promote the transition and adaptation in the leading sectors to engender sustainable consumption and production patterns around the world, while aiming at achieving development goals.

6. Tourism, a labor intensive sector that creates millions of jobs worldwide, attracts significant foreign income and investment, and is one of the most promising drivers of green growth for the world economy.

7. The Tourism sector worldwide, with its many linkages to a wide range of other services, agriculture and manufacturing industries, offers tremendous opportunity for promoting sustainable practices, decent work and is projected to grow significantly over the coming decade. Sustainable tourism supported by the three pillars (social justice, economic development, and environmental integrity) requires therefore a unified and coordinated approach through the UN system?s work as well as the private sector.

8. Tourism can make a significant contribution to address economic, climate and poverty imperatives. Tourism (international and domestic) represents today 5% of the world?s GDP and 30% of the global exports of services, a share which is even higher in developing countries, including the Least‐Developed Countries and Island Developing States. As one of the world?s largest employment sectors, it generates1in 12 jobs worldwide.

9. The transformation in 2003 of the World Tourism Organization into a Specialized Agency of the United Nations reinforced the notion of tourism as a fundamental sector which can be harnessed to achieve economic and social progress.

10. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has answered the call to make tourism a vehicle to foster growth and development, while aiming to achieve the MDGs by the target date of 2015. By promoting the development of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism UNWTO endeavors to maximize tourism?s contribution to socio‐economic growth, job creation, development, environmental conservation, cultural enrichment and international understanding, while minimizing negative social, cultural or environmental impacts2.Most importantly, because of its cross‐cutting nature, sustainable tourism can address meaningfully a range of priority issues identified, in the context of sustainable development at Rio+20. Among these are: energy, water, oceans, green jobs, sustainable cities, sustainable agriculture and food security, disaster risk reduction, and investing in health, education, youth, gender equality and women?s empowerment.

11. To this end, UNWTO has worked on a number of existing and new initiatives that can serve as good examples of what can be accomplished, thus helping to underpin the Rio+20negotiations and roadmap for implementation.

Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication

12. Tourism has been identified within the Green Economy debate as one of ten sectors, alongside manufacturing or energy among others, which can lead the transformation to this new model. According to the 2011 Green Economy Report3, tourism is one of the most promising drivers of growth for the world economy and, with the appropriate investment, can continue to grow steadily over the coming decades, contributing to much‐needed economic growth, employment and development while mitigating its environmental impacts.

13. The correct investment in innovation and green strategies would allow the sector to continue to expand steadily over the coming decades while ensuring significant environmental benefits such as reductions in water consumption (18%), energy use (44%) and CO2 emissions (52%) are possible, as compared with a ?business‐as‐usual? scenario.

14. In addition, green tourism would stimulate job creation, especially in poorer communities, with increased local hiring and sourcing and a positive spill‐over effect on other areas of the economy. The direct economic contribution of tourism to local communities would also be increased,maximizing the amount of tourist4 spending that is retained by the local economy.

16. At the same time tourism is also responsible for 5% of the world's CO2 emissions, mainly originated from transport and to a less extent by accommodation, accounting for 1%. This is a comparatively small, yet important, footprint that the tourism sector has assumed as a priority to be addressed.

17. The UNWTO led ?Davos process on climate change and tourism? named after an international conference held in 2007, has assembled a variety of different stakeholders in order to find ways to respond as a sector to the climate change challenges while facilitating research, knowledge development, capacity building and awareness on the interrelations between climate change and tourism.

Hotel Energy Solutions (HES)5

18. In response to the challenge of climate change, the Hotel Energy Solutions (HES) project aims to increase energy efficiency in European small and medium hotels by 20% and their use of renewable energies by 10%, demonstrating that economic growth and sustainability can, and should, go hand‐in‐hand.

19. Hotel Energy Solutions, a UNWTO‐initiated project, was made possible with the support of the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme and thanks to the close partnership with UNEP, IH&RA, EREC and ADEME.

Biodiversity

20. Protection of biodiversity and natural resources is a core element of sustainable tourism. Biodiversity is under pressure worldwide, and has suffered severe losses as more Land is converted for human use from a natural state, and as these human uses become more intensive. Because ecosystem services and biodiversity are vital for tourism, it is critical for destinations and the tourism sector to protect them as valuable assets that contribute to the long‐term success of tourism.

21. UNWTO has long recognized biodiversity as an important issue for tourism, and has an ongoing collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The lessons from projects undertaken by UNWTO are that the CBD Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism Development provide an effective framework for integrating tourism with biodiversity protection, and for addressing the biodiversity and ecosystem service components of sustainable tourism.

A new Institutional Framework for achieving Sustainable Development

22. As an innovative approach to Delivering as One UN, UNWTO has jointly created a global partnership with eight Organizations (ILO, ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNIDO and WTO) in the Steering Committee on Tourism for Development (SCTD) which is committed to promoting sustainable tourism for job creation and poverty eradication. Open to the participation of other UN entities, the Committeeaims to raise international awareness of tourism as an instrument for development and maximize its role in helping countries reach their development goals through tourism.

23. By joining forces, the nine UN entities which constitute the Committeewill be better positioned to provide the necessary technical assistance and support to developing countries? needs. This integrated approach reflects the importance of mainstreaming efforts from a number of UN entities. It will bring coherence to the coordinated efforts of the UN System in the area of tourism for development, and thereby build on the comparative advantages of each Agency.

24. While building the capacity for an efficient delivery, the SCTD aims tocreate a Multi‐Partnerships Trust Fund for Tourism for the next decade.

UNWTO Sustainable Tourism ? Eliminating Poverty (ST‐EP)6 Initiative

25. While tourism has grown more rapidly in developing than in developed countries, mechanisms have to be identified and applied to ensure that its economic and social benefits reach the local communities and the more vulnerable segments of the populations.

26. The UNWTO ST‐EP Initiative was launched in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The Initiative focuses on enhancing the Organization?s longstanding work to developing and promoting sustainable forms of tourism ? including social, economic and environmental aspects ? with activities that specifically alleviate poverty, delivering development and jobs to people living on less than a dollar a day. The Government of the Republic of Korea was a pioneer partner in the launching of the ST‐EP Initiative, by offering an initial contribution of US$ 5 million to host and establish the UNWTO ST‐EP Foundation in Seoul. In addition to the Republic of Korea and the ST‐EP Foundation, a number of important donors from the public and private sector have offered their financial and in‐kind support to the ST‐EP Initiative.

27. UNWTO is undertaking a number of activities to materialize the ST‐EP Initiative. In close collaboration with its Member States, and with the support received for the ST‐EP Programme, 100 ST‐EP projects have already been approved for implementation, benefiting 33 developing countries. 69 projects have already been successfully completed. The value of the total ST‐EP project portfolio is over US$ 10 million. These projects aim to create examples of how sustainable forms of tourism can make a tangible contribution to poverty reduction.

28. The ST‐EP projects focus on a wide range of activities, such as training of local guides and hotel employees, facilitating the involvement of local people in tourism development around natural and cultural heritage sites, establishing business linkages between poor producers and tourism enterprises, and providing business and financial services to small, medium and community based tourism enterprises. In accordance with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the ST‐EP projects are formulated in collaboration with the National Tourism Administrations, in line with their tourism policies as well as the countries? poverty reduction strategies. With the goal of maximizing impact on the ground, the project targets and results are planned and measured at output, outcome and impact level, using the UN results‐based management approach.

Looking Ahead

29. In a renewed commitment for Aid Effectiveness, more resources will have to be secured from the traditional donors and from the civil society and the private sector.Increased investments and concerted greener policies can steer the growth of the sector toward a more sustainable path, generating economic benefits, contributing to job creation and poverty reduction, while improving resource efficiency and responding effectively to environmental challenges.

Mainstreaming tourism in the global and national development agendas should aim to:

(1) Strengthen the contribution of tourism to the sustainable development agenda; acknowledging that economic, social and environmental objectives are not independent variables and thus work to foster the integration of tourism in national policies across the economic, environmental and social pillars is essential;

(2) Enhance the role of tourism to contribute towards the achievement of the MDGs, a more balanced and fairer economic growth, and above all, accelerating sustainable development, thereby expanding the reach of the benefits of tourism to a larger segment of the world population;

(3) Advance tourism?s role in stimulating the global economy, enhancing employment, creating decent jobs, alleviating poverty, supporting development, and transforming progressively into a greener, more sustainable and low‐carbon economy, as well as improving resilience and preparedness against economic or natural shocks;

(4) Call upon governments that can make a major contribution to achievement of international biodiversity goals by ensuring that legislation is in place, and enforced, that enables and supports the sustainability of tourism, including protection of biodiversity. In particular, Land use planning and development controls at national and destination levels can be used to influence the location and type of new and existing tourism activities and to control potentially harmful development.

(5) Engage governments and partners with the international community, in order to put in place the right conditions and International Aid, financial incentives to foster the achievement of the MDGs and the advancement towards a greener economy;

(6) Call upon the international community, governments, businesses and communities to put in place enabling conditions that will facilitate the promotion of effective development policies and green tourism scenarios and ensure the identification and channeling of additional private and public strategies and resources.

30. UNWTO is committed to work in favour of the integration of tourism into the process and outcomes of the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Brazil, 4‐6 June 2012)as a sector that, given its horizontal nature, can deliver on many priority issues which have emerged that warrant particular attention in the context of sustainable development at the Conference. The year 2012 will also be special year for tourism worldwide; it will be the year which international tourist arrivals will surpass the1 billionmark.

Enclosed: Annex ? Background Note

Background Note ‐

Introduction

1. The Rio +20 Conference (4‐6 June 2012) will take place 20 years after the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where countries adopted Agenda 21 ? a blueprint to rethink economic growth, better protect and manage ecosystems and create a safer, more prosperous future ? and ten years after the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), also known as the Johannesburg Summit.

2. As the world looks for new paradigms of growth and development which are conductive of a fairer and more balanced society and within the framework of the two main themes at the Rio+20 Conference: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development, UNWTO presents a review of the progress achieved to date and the challenges ahead on sustainable tourism and sustainable development.

Sustainable Tourism

3. It was not until the early nineties, and particularly since the first Earth Summitthat the concept of sustainable tourism developed. Agenda 21 was one of its main outcomes as a project meant to stimulate action from all segments of society in the 21st century. Travel and tourism was one of the only industries identified in Agenda 21 as having the potential to make a positive contribution to a healthier planet.

4. In 1995, the World Tourism Organization, jointly with the World Travel & Tourism Council and the Earth Council, assessed the impact of Agenda 21 and the results were published in the report, Agenda 21 for the Travel & Tourism Industry‐Towards Environmentally Sustainable Development, which contains priority areas for action and analyses the strategic and economic importance of the sector and demonstrates the enormous benefits in making the whole industry sustainable. It includes ten priorities for governments to be followedwhen drafting and implementing their sustainable tourism programmes and ten priority action areas for private enterprises.

5. The principles established in the Rio Declaration also served as the basis for the progressive development of UNWTO's sustainable tourism programme, which in 1995 defined sustainable tourism as "one that meets the needs of present tourists and of the host regions while protecting and promoting opportunities for the future. It is conceived as a way to manage all the resources so that they can meet the economic, social and aesthetic, while respecting the cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems?.

6. The Johannesburg Summit emphasized for the first time the importance of the sustainable tourism for poverty reduction, the protection of the environment and of cultural heritage. It was in fact the first time thattourism?s role in the global sustainable development agenda was made explicit with the inclusion of tourism in the Joint Programme of Implementation emerging from Johannesburg.

7. Overall, since the Rio Summit in 1992, and particularly since the Johannesburg Summit in 2002, significant progress has been made in a number of areas related to sustainable tourism, including environmental sustainability, climate change, social inclusion or gender equality. Nonetheless, much is still to be achieved.

I. UPDATE ON DEVELOPMENTS: ASSESSING THE PROGRESS TO DATE

8. The advancement of sustainable tourism, one which establishes a suitable balance between the environmental, economic and socio‐cultural aspects of tourism development, lies at the heart of UNWTO programmes of work and builds on the Plan of Implementation agreed upon at the Johannesburg Summit, in pursuit of the MDGs and in the framework of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.

9. Tourism is a key source of economic income and strong contributor to job creation, particularly for developing and emerging economies, and one of the fastest growing industries worldwide.In spite of the various crises that affected tourist movements in the recent years, and especially the current economic recession, the tourism industry has shown resilience, fared better than many other sectors and is expected to show continuos growth for the next 20 years.

10. Sustainable tourism plays also an important role as a powerful tool for sustainable development and cultural diversity and as key contributor to local economies worldwide and is committed to make sustainability‐encompassed by three pillars: social, economic and environmental‐ lie at the heart of tourism development worldwide.

11. The contribution of tourism to sustainable development is increasingly recognized. UNWTO has actively promoted a sustainability approach in the development of tourism policies worldwide and implemented and supported global initiatives for sustainability in the tourism sector. Investing in a sustainable tourism and the sustainable management of natural resources reflects also for the UNWTO, the commitment to a green economy as a creator of an economic growth, social progress and environmental sustainability.

12. Some additional UNWTO initiatives that can serve as good examples of what can be accomplished, thus helping to underpin the Rio+20 negotiations:

Tourism and the Green Economy

13. A core element of the Green Economy Initiative launched by the UN in 2009 is the Green Economy Report (GER) which looks beyond a short term response to the financial and economic crisis. The GER makes a case for, and provides guidance on investing in specific environmentally significant sectors, such as tourism, as a medium and long‐term economic strategy. The Green Economy Report ? Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, features a chapter specifically on Tourism ? identified as one of the 10 key sectors identified within the Green Economy debate as one of ten sectors, alongside manufacturing or energy, which can lead the transformation to this new model.1

14. According to the 2011 Green Economy Report, tourism is one of the most promising drivers of growth for the world economy and, with the appropriate investment, can continue to grow steadily over the coming decades, contributing to much‐needed economic growth, employment and development while mitigating its environmental impacts.

15. In a world looking for new models of economic growth and development, fighting climate change and adopting sustainable management practices is no longer an option, but a condition for survival and success.

16. The HES project,a UNWTO‐initiated project, with the support of the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme and close partnership with UNEP, IH&RA, EREC and ADEME, aims to increase energy efficiency in European small and medium hotels their use of renewable energies.

17. The HES E‐toolkit, an innovative mitigation and investment software ? available online ? for the tourism accommodation sector, will empower and guide hotels to better understand their energy consumption and show them how to improve energy management and cut costs, thus moving towards a greener economy.

18. While designed initially for EU Members in‐line with EU Energy Policies, the project is expected to be adapted and rolled‐out globally over the coming years. Once adapted, the project will benefit hotels worldwide, thus contributing to climate change mitigation and ensuring the economic and environmental sustainability of the sector.

Steering Committee on Tourism for Development (SCTD): Delivering as one for Tourism

19. UNWTO has partnered with eight organizations (ILO; ITC; UNCTAD; UNDP; UNEP; UNESCO; UNIDO and WTO) in the SCTD which is committed to promoting sustainable tourism for job creation and poverty eradication. The Committee will aim to raise international awareness of tourism as an instrument for development and maximize its role in helping countries reach their development goals through tourism.

20. The UNWTO ST‐EP Initiative focuses on activities that specifically alleviate poverty, delivering development and jobs to people in local communities.

21. UNWTO has organized in the framework of the ST‐EP initiativetwenty‐four regional and national training seminars on tourism and poverty reduction, in order to build capacities among public officials, NGOs, the private sector and communities in developing countries, with a total participation of over 2,000 officials so far. Continuous research activity by UNWTO has led to the publication of five reports, providing evidence of the impact of tourism in reducing poverty levels, as well as recommendations on how to maximize these impacts.

II. INITIATIVES THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS AND CROSS‐CUTTING ISSUES

22. Active collaboration with other international organizations, with a view of creating appropriate synergies and widening the scope of beneficiaries from its activities, has been also of great importance for UNWTO towards implementing the objectives of Agenda 21 and towards mainstreaming tourism in the global development agenda.

23. Given its horizontal nature, tourism is a sector that can deliver on many priority issues which have emerged which warrant particular attention in the context of sustainable development: energy, water, oceans, green jobs, sustainable cities, sustainable agriculture and food security, education, youth, gender equality and improved resilience and preparedness.

Sustainability for the tourism industry

24. The tourism sector, if managed properly, has the capacity to act as indicator of progress in sustainability. Jointly with the UN Foundation, UNEP and the Rainforest Alliance, UNWTO launched the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) at the World Conservation Congress in October 2008. The GSTC are a set of 37 voluntary standards and represent an effort to reach a common understanding of sustainable tourism These criteria constitute a critical step towards ensuring sustainability as the standard practice for the entire tourism industry and represent an important part of the response of the tourism community to the global challenges of poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation. UNWTO is also one of the founding partners and a permanent member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) established in 2010, as a body aimed at the dissemination and application of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.

25. UNWTO participates in the Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism, an initiative that resulted from the International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development. UNWTO is a permanent member of the steering committee of the Partnership. This UN Type II Partnership under the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) aims at mainstreaming sustainability into all aspects of tourism policy, development and operations, as well as disseminating and replicating successful initiatives from all around the world. The Partnership aims at identifying and disseminating successful initiatives from all around the world and replicating them.

Water

26. UNWTO, responding to the need of an efficient water resources management, has actively promoted the use of sustainable tourism indicators as planning and management instruments in order to monitor tourism impacts at destination and company level. Furthermore, several UNWTO?s publications, such as Climate Change and Tourism ? Responding to Global Challenges? and ?Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Tourism Sector: Frameworks, Tools and Practices? , embrace related water issues, such as water availability and conservation, drinking water quality and sewage treatment, among others.

27. In order to stress the relevance of water for the tourism sector and to contribute to the common efforts of the UN, in January 2009 UNWTO became member of UN‐Water, which was set up in 2003 with the aim to achieve a better coordination of the UN system in its effort to work more effectively on water and sanitation issues, which are among the most urgent challenges of our time.

Sustainable agriculture and food security

28. Tourism development is increasingly viewed as an important tool in promoting economic growth, reducing poverty and advancing food security. Tourism has become one of the major players in international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income sources for many developing countries, which haveincreased their participation in the global economy through the development of their tourism industry.

29. This has also helped to create economic and employment benefits in many related sectors, such as for instance agriculture.The contribution of tourism to economic well‐being depends on the quality and the revenues of the tourism offer. UNWTO assists destinations in their sustainable positioning in ever more complex national and international markets. As the UN agency dedicated to tourism, UNWTO points out that particularly developing countries stand to benefit from sustainable tourism and acts to help make this a reality.

Investing in education, youth and gender equality and women?s empowerment

30. Tourism presents immense opportunities for youth and women?s employment and income‐generation, setting the foundations for poverty reduction and local economic development. In order for these opportunities to materialized, tourism activities must respect the principle of gender equality as set out in the Global Code of Ethic for Tourism.

31. UNWTO and UN Women, work closely to bring gender issues to the forefront of tourism and highlight the opportunities the sector offers to advance the issue of gender globally. Earlier this year, the two UN agencies released the first ?Global Report on Women in Tourism? in which tourism is identified as a sector providing important economic empowerment and leadership opportunities for women. It nevertheless alerts to the need to work more to attain equality, as women are often ?concentrated in low‐skill, low‐paid and precarious jobs? and typically earn ?10% to 15% less than their male counterparts?.

32. Developing highly qualified and well trained human resources in the public and private sectors to develop, manage and serve the industry in a sustainable and competitive manner in accordance with international standards is of great important for UNWTO and the organization regularly conducts training sessions and capacity building activities on manpower planning, tourism awareness, curricula development and other related issues.

33. Education and capacity building are given a high priority and is often implemented by the UNWTO Themis Foundation, which has been assigned the main responsibility in this area and which regularly conducts courses and capacity building activities held in the various regions and covering key areas such as on statistics and tourism satellite account (TSA), marketing and promotion, sustainable development, etc.

34. The UNWTO Knowledge Network ? a community of knowledge in scientific, technological and procedural matters related to tourism‐ launched in September 2010, was launched to support UNWTO and its member states by fostering innovation and knowledge management and programmes in all matters concerning tourism analysis, policy, governance and operations.

Improved resilience and disaster preparedness

35. Tourism is a highly sensitive activity to natural disasters, terrorism and crisis. It is also highly sensitive and heavily dependent on perceptions of danger and lack of safety and security; therefore the integration of tourism and emergency management is an important issue for the organization. The UNWTO assist members to assess and mitigate risks related to tourism, as well as in the developing, planning and implementation of crisis management systems that will reduce the impact of and assist in the recovery from crises.

36. It also aims at advancing cooperation to include tourism as an integral element of national resilience and disaster management planning. Many activities have been developed on measures to facilitate international travel, support members in identifying and mitigating global and local risks related to tourism, coordinating with the United Nations in order to ensure consistent and common approach and on improving members? capacity to develop, plan and implement crisis management systems.

III. Challenges ahead

37. Green economy should be understood not only as a system compatible with the natural environment but also as socially just, respecting the rights of poor countries and poor people to development and within the framework of the sustainable development concept and principles.

38. By putting in placethe right conditions and financial incentives governments can greatly contribute to the transition to a green economy, which will bring along far more opportunities and benefits, particularly on environment and poverty reduction efforts, than continuing under the current unsustainable consumption patterns.Within a roadmap for tourism recovery, UNWTO included also ?green economy? as one of its main blocks together with ?stimulus? and ?resilience?.